AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-321

ANS is a free, weekly, news and information service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation ANS reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites

Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to:

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In this edition: * IARU Region 1 Conference Satellite Topics * AMSAT Awards * ESA's Vega Launching To An Unusual Orbit * VHF/UHF/microwave pioneer Reg Galle, VK5QR, SK * ARISS Status - 10 November 2008

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-321 01 IARU Region 1 Conference Satellite Topics

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 321 01 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD November 16, 2008 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-321 01

The IARU Region 1 Conference in Cavtat starts this weekend, see http://www southgatearc org/news/november2008/iaru_r1_cavtat htm

There are a number of Satellite related papers being discussed in C5 VHF/UHF/uW: 144 MHz increased satellite service 3400 MHz amateur satellite allocation Microwave spectrum requirements A new vision for 23 cm Amateur satellites handbook chapter Microwave spectrum requirements VHF spectrum requirements

An REF response to the C5 VHF/UHF/uW papers can be seen at http://thf ref-union org/c5_iaru_r1/08cavtat/08cavtat_c5_etat_commentaires pdf

[ANS Trevor, M5AKA, for the above information] /EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-321 02 AMSAT Awards

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 321 02 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD November 16, 2008 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-321 02

We would like to welcome the following to the satellite community They have made their first satellite contact and are now members of the AMSAT Satellite Communicators Club

Boris Lanca, 9A2GA Douglas Anoman, KC9MLN Steve Rish, K8SAR

The following has earned the AMSAT Satellite Communications Achievement Award

Jose Manuel Escribano Hinojosa #475

Jose also earned the AMSAT South Africa Satellite Communications Achievement Award #US127

To see all the awards visit http://www amsat org or http://www amsatnet com

Bruce Paige, KK5DO AMSAT Director Contests and Awards

[ANS thanks Bruce, KK5DO, for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-321 03 ESA's Vega Launching To An Unusual Orbit

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 321 03 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD November 16, 2008 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-321 03

Following the selection of 9 cubesats to be launched on the maiden flight of the Vega launcher, ESA have now announced that the cubesats will be deployed into a very interesting orbit measuring 350km x 1450km with an inclination of 71 degrees

From the ESA website

"The nine CubeSats will be deployed from three different deployment systems mounted on the support structure of the main payload, LARES (LAser RElativity Satellite), into an orbit of 350 km by 1450 km at an inclination of 71 degrees The launch opportunity is offered by ESA to the selected CubeSats free of charge"

Further details are at: http://www esa int/esaED/SEMAYTRTKMF_index_0 html

[ANS thanks David, G0MRF, for the above information] /EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-321 04 VHF/UHF/microwave pioneer Reg Galle, VK5QR, SK

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 321 04 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD November 16, 2008 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-321 04

All those interested in long distance VHF/UHF/microwave propagation will regret the death of Reg Galle VK5QR on 12 September 2008

Reg was a leading pioneer of the use of these amateur radio bands

On 31 December 1951, Reg made a 144 MHz Australian record distance of 2122 Km with a contact with the late Rolo Everingham VK6BO in Perth (just short of the then world record of 2253 Km) He then continued to seek answers to questions regarding the propagation of the higher bands

Reg became the Adelaide end of record breaking distances on 432, 1296, 2304 and 3456 MHz across the Great Australian Bight with Wally Green VK6WG in Albany

Reg and Wally, as true amateurs with no professional engineering backgrounds, built equipment for these UHF/microwave bands and were nearly 2 000 Km apart so that there were no "local" tests with each other There were no precedents in Australia, and few in the world, for trying to make contacts over this distance

In 1977, they bridged the 1296 MHz path on 25 January for a world record distance of 1885 Km

The following year, on 17 February 1978, Reg and Wally made their first contact on the 2304 MHz band Reg used SSB that was processed in a divide by 6 circuit and mixed to 28 MHz The 28 MHz signal, with processed SSB, was then transverted to 384 MHz and then tripled and doubled to 2304 MHz This multiplication by 6 restored the original SSB! To give you a feel of the type of gear in use 30 years ago, Wally Green VK6WG used a modified World War II SCR522 which, from a 7 MHz crystal, produced 128 MHz This was then multiplied to 384 MHz with a BAY96 varactor tripler to 1152 MHz in a modified Microwave Modules MMV1296 and then doubled in by a 2C39 which drew 90mA at 600V

In 1986, Reg and Wally completed their first 3456 MHz contact using CW This distance of 1885 Km and that on 2304 MHz remain the Australian record distances

Both Wally and Reg built equipment for the 5 7 GHz band and made tests on that band without success although Reg claimed that they could have had a contact had Wally not been in the midst of making apricot jam on that day!

Reg gradually lost interest in pushing the boundaries further and has been in poor health in recent years His death followed several strokes The most recent one returned him to hospital just over a week ago but he insisted that he wanted to go home despite living alone and with no close relatives in Adelaide His niece watched over him and he was able to fulfil his wish of dying at home in his own bed! Reg was 96 years old!

Farewell to a tremendous pioneer on the higher bands!

[ANS thanks Wally, VK6KZ, for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-321 05 ARISS Status - 10 November 2008

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 321 05 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD November 16, 2008 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-321 05

1. Spanish Students Speak to ISS via Radio

Students attending IES Trassierra in Córdoba, Spain spoke with astronaut Mike Fincke, KE5AIT, via an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact on Monday, November 3 Twenty students asked one question each of the astronaut Approximately 150 students, teachers and guests attended the event including the Cordoba City mayor and the Head Master of Education and Culture of Cordoba Media coverage included 4 local and regional television stations, 2 local and regional radio stations and 3 newspapers Photos, an audio recording and a video recording may be found at: http://www ariss-eu org/2008_11_08 htm

An article (in Spanish) has been posted to El Dia de Cordoba: http://www eldiadecordoba es/article/cordoba/270358/conocer/como/vive/astronauta html

1. Successful Australian Contact

In preparation for an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact, students attending St Thomas’ Primary School in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia helped build an antenna They spoke with Richard Garriott, W5KWQ, during his ISS mission and received Slow Scan Television (SSTV) images as well They also viewed Mike Fincke’s ISS video tour taken during Expedition 9 On Tuesday, November 4, the students spoke with Fincke, KE5AIT, as approximately 400 students looked on Fincke answered all twenty questions posed to him by the 20 students The event received extensive local and national media coverage including 2 newspapers, an online magazine, 2 television stations and 5 radio stations The audio and a partial video of the event are available on the school’s Web site: http://www members optusnet com au/jandnclark/?reload

An interview is available on the ABC site: http://www abc net au/local/photos/2008/11/07/2412996 htm?site=brisbane

The City South News posted an article on the contact See: http://city-south-news whereilive com au/news/story/special-space-link-for-local -students/

1. India University Contact Successful

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact between Dibrugarh University in Assam, India and astronaut Mike Fincke, KE5AIT, took place on Friday, November 7 via telebridge station W6SRJ in California Ten students were able to ask eleven questions of Fincke as an audience of 700 gathered for the event Mike spoke briefly in the Indian language Media coverage included newspapers and television Contact audio was fed into two EchoLink servers and into the Internet Radio Linking Project (IRLP) Discovery Reflector 9010 There were 5 known connections from England, Japan and South Korea on the EchoLink servers with uncounted listeners on one repeater and two link nodes

1. Successful ARISS Simulated Contacts

On Thursday, November 6, Chris Hadfield, KC5RNJ/VA3OOG, and Cady Coleman, KC5ZTH, took part in Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) simulated contacts The astronauts spoke with two groups of students from Manordale Public School in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada These training sessions were terrestrial-based amateur radio contacts using ARISS-equivalent equipment Hadfield and Coleman are currently assigned as back-up Expedition 19 crew members

1. ARRL Articles on Garriott Mission

On Thursday, November 6, the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) ran an article on Richard Garriott’s mission “Richard Garriott, W5KWQ, Back on Terra Firma,” may be found at: http://www arrl org/news/stories/2008/11/06/10437/?nc=1

The ARRL Letter also ran the story See: http://www arrl org/arrlletter/08/1107/

1. Interview on SuitSat

ARISS (Amateur Radio on the International Space Station) member Steve Bible, N7HPR, gave an interview on the concept and development of SuitSat-1 His interview has been posted to the Design News, Engineering Concept Conduit Web page See: http://www engineeringconceptconduit com/

1. Astronaut Makes General Contacts

Mike Fincke, KE5AIT, made several contacts with the ham radio community over the November 8 weekend Using the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) equipment, Fincke talked with stations in Australia, Thailand, South America and North America

1. ARISS SSTV Web Site Status

The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Slow Scan Television (SSTV) Web site set up for Richard Garriott’s flight was a big success Over 2200 images from SpaceCam, MMSSTV and the VC-H1 were received by amateur radio operators worldwide and were uploaded to the site The site received nearly 4 million hits! See the SSTV images: http://ariss-sstv ssl berkeley edu/SSTV/ and the SSTV blog: http://ariss-sstv blogspot com/

[ANS thanks Carol, KB3LKI, for the above information]

/EX

In addition to regular membership, AMSAT offers membership in the President's Club Members of the President's Club, as sustaining donors to AMSAT Project Funds, will be eligible to receive additional benefits Application forms are available from the AMSAT Office

73, This week's ANS Editor, Lee McLamb, KU4OS ku4os at amsat dot org

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